Official gets death sentence

A VILLAGE official in Hebei Province was sentenced to death yesterday for taking more than 50 million yuan (US$8.17 million) in bribes and organizing a mafia-like gang, Yanzhao Evening News reported.

Nineteen others were found guilty for gang crimes and sentenced from 16 months to life in prison.

Prosecutors said Liu Huimin, 50, served in the Party committee, construction bureau and in a management committee of an industrial park in Quyang County, Baoding City. Liu had used illegal means to rig elections since 2001, the year he took office, and used his power to help at least 14 people get jobs, the report said.

Liu took 4.43 million yuan in bribes from a construction company manager in a government land requisition deal in 2009 and early 2010, the report said.

In 2011, Liu was appointed to negotiate a contract for construction projects including Quyang Education Town. Liu received bribes totaling 52.7 million yuan between June and October that year. In July 2011, Liu accepted 10 kilograms of gold, worth 3.116 million yuan at the time, in another bribe.

During his tenure in the management committee of a county industrial park, he asked one accomplice in his gang to commit accounting fraud.

He illegally pocketed 7.44 million yuan of the 9.835 million yuan invested by the county government, the report said.

Liu also sent his gang members to set fires and attack villagers who opposed his plans, prosecutors were cited as saying by the newspaper.